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“In that case, I will go speak to your father,” William stated.

The engaged couple walked arm-in-arm to the drawing room where with a look of longing before he left her, William helped Mary into a chair next to her two older sisters.

“Well?” Elizabeth questioned as soon as Cousin Collins left the room.

“I know patience is not one of your virtues,” Mary teased. “In this case, you will need some for a few minutes.”

Elizabeth huffed and playfully swatted at, and missed, Mary’s shoulder.

Bennet called out for whoever was knocking on his door to enter as soon as he heard it. He had very little doubts about who would be entering the study. He was correct. “I suppose now that your name is Bennet that I will have to address you as William. Please be seated,” Bennet invited.

“I will not beat around the bush. I offered for Mary, and she has accepted me. We seek your permission and blessing,” William stated forthrightly.

“My middle daughter would not have accepted you had she not been so inclined,” Bennet mused. “Are you aware that all she will have for her portion is one thousand pounds when my wife goes to her final reward? Until then, she will receive fifty pounds per annum. As you know, I am doing now what I should have begun more than twenty years past and working to increase my daughters’ dowries, but that will not help Mary.”

“I am familiar with all those facts,” William acknowledged. “The last thing I considered when offering for Mary, was her fortune or lack thereof. She is worth a thousand times her weight in gold. Hence, I care not if she is impecunious when we marry. In addition to one day being the master of Longbourn, I earn around five hundred pounds each year as a clergyman. Add to that, at the time of my birth, my father gifted me a legacy of fifteen thousand pounds which has been untouched and first in the funds and then growing with your brother-in-law. After five and twenty years of the dividends being reinvested, I have more than one hundred and fifty thousand pounds. I intend to settle thirty thousand pounds on Mary, and that will leave more than enough to dower any daughters He grants us with very respectable dowries.”

As his future son-in-law spoke about his fortune that had started far more modestly, Bennet felt shame all over again that he had not invested Fanny’s dowry with Gardiner. Had he done so, and added the yearly profits to it instead of wasting the money, Bennet calculated the capital would be close in amount to what William had just mentioned. Dwelling on his past failures would, as the man opposite him had pointed out, not change anything. All he could do was to attempt to do better.

“I see no reason not to give you my consent and blessing to marry Mary. Pierce will begin to call the banns this Sunday. Do you have a date for your marriage in mind?”

William Bennet stood and looked at a calendar on one of the shelves. He sat back down. “We have chosen Friday, the third day of January of 1812. My family will be here as well, so in my mind, it would be the perfect date.”

“My wife may assert that she does not have enough time to organise the kind of wedding she would like, but for my part, I have no objection. It is just under a month from today; therefore, propriety will be observed.” Bennet stood and extended his hand. “Welcome to becoming a closer part of my family.”

The two men shook hands warmly. They both made their way to the drawing room.

“Mary, please join us,” Bennet requested when he and William entered the room. As soon as she joined them, Bennet turned to those in the drawing room. “William proposed to Mary, she accepted him, and I have added my consent and blessings. They will marry on the first Friday in January upcoming. Please join me in wishing them a long and felicitous married life.”

“Only a month…” Fanny began shrilly and then stopped herself. “Congratulations Mary and Cousin Bennet, you will do very well together. I will plan the wedding you desire.”

“Cousin Bennet?” Four Bennet sisters chorused.

“I was just told. William’s name is now William Collins Bennet,” Mary explained.

Mary’s sisters surrounded her and conveyed their sincere congratulations. Even Lydia. Her dream of being the first Bennet sister to marry became dust in the wind, just like many of her other wrongheaded ideas.

In the middle of this celebration Hilldale, the Darcys, Bingley, and the Hursts arrived in the drawing room. Bows and curtsies were given, and greetings were exchanged. As soon as the joyous news was shared with the new arrivals, there was a fresh round of wishes for a felicitous union bestowed.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

Darcy suspected that since they had agreed to begin again, and he had been paying such marked attention to Miss Elizabeth, that she was not indifferent to him. However, he was not sure if she was willing to advance their relationship beyond friendship. That morning before coming to Longbourn, he had looked at himself in the mirror and admonished himself not to be a coward. If he did not offer her a courtship, he would never know one way or the other.

To that end, once the good wishes for the newly engaged couple had been given, he approached Miss Elizabeth. “Are you willing to allow me to address you where we can speak privately?” Darcy requested.

For a moment, Elizabeth did not move. Her feelings for this man were very different than they had been when she thought him the worst of men. However, she was not ready to accept a proposal of marriage from him. She immediately stopped her thoughts. She was making assumptions again, and those had not boded well for her with regard to this man in the past.

Waiting for her to respond seemed like an eternity to Darcy. Was she thinking of a polite way of refusing to even hear his request?

“If Mrs Annesley is willing to accompany us to the west parlour where I know it is warm, I would be happy to hear what you have to say. There is enough room so that if we and she sit at opposite ends of the room, she will not hear us,” Elizabeth allowed.

Seeing that she would not refuse to speak to him made Darcy smile widely.

Elizabeth had a similar reaction to the previous time she had seen the dimples on Mr Darcy’s extremely handsome face. Her heart sped up, and her breathing became more rapid. She waited while Mr Darcy spoke softly to Mrs Annesley. Elizabeth saw said lady nod and stand. He returned to her, offered her his arm, and then, they, with Mrs Annesley trailing, left the drawing room.

Hilldale watched enviously. That emotion was soon tamped down when he realised there was nothing stopping him from declaring himself to Miss Bennet. He was not in love with her yet, but he was well on his way. He was aware that if she accepted him, he would have to write to Mother and Father.

He leaned over so his mouth was close to Miss Bennet’s ear. “When Darcy and Miss Elizabeth return, would you do me the honour of allowing me to have a private interview with you?” Hilldale requested.